A distributed database is a database in which partitions of data are distributed across discrete computational resources. The distributed database may be implemented in multiple computers located in the same physical location, or may be dispersed over a network of interconnected computers. A distributed database can reside on network servers on the Internet, on corporate intranets or extranets, or on other networks.
There are ongoing needs to improve processing in distributed databases. In particular, it is desirable to reduce the amount of data that needs to be transmitted across a network.